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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23952514">We Were Never Here</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenbloodedcomputer/pseuds/greenbloodedcomputer'>greenbloodedcomputer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Motion Picture [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:28:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>970</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23952514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenbloodedcomputer/pseuds/greenbloodedcomputer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You think you can disappear for years and walk back into our lives like it never happened?” </p><p>---</p><p>Spock is back aboard the Enterprise, but Leonard can't handle a personal conversation yet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leonard "Bones" McCoy &amp; Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Motion Picture [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726357</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We Were Never Here</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Response to an anonymous requestion on Tumblr: I would love to see your take on any of them! Especially either of these? No pressure of course “How long has it been?” “You think you can disappear for years and walk back into our lives like it never happened? Get out!”</p><p>I managed to use both! For those keeping score at home, this would take place around the 1-hour 25-minute mark in ST: The Motion Picture.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The conversation would have to happen eventually. He knew that, but with all that was going on there wasn’t time for them to have any privacy. Jim had flown them right into the heart of some alien vessel and now there was a robot that looked like a woman marching around demanding a grand tour. As soon as Decker left with the probe-woman, Leonard began running his hands over the ruined metal of the door it had blown through. “Well there goes the new ship,” he muttered with a frown. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gentlemen,” Jim said as he looked between Spock and McCoy. “Let’s just hope this probe can provide a little more information about V’ger before it’s satisfied with us.” Without another word, he headed out the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Christine patted Leonard on the back as she began cleaning up from the examination. What had shown on the screen was astounding - an exact replica of Ilia, right down to the level of moisture in her eyes. It should have impressed him, but Leonard just felt uneasy. Everything was wrong about this mission. As he pulled his attention back to sickbay, he suddenly noticed that he and Spock were the only ones there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For some reason, Spock hadn’t left yet. Leonard looked around, just to make sure he wasn’t missing something, but it seemed that Spock was just...waiting. “Can I help you?” he asked with a little more venom than he’d meant to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your examination was most fruitful, Doctor,” Spock said. “Indeed it will prove useful trying to communicate.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What was the point of him saying this? Was he trying to start a conversation? Leonard wasn’t really in the mood. There was a slim chance he’d ever be ready to talk, but after the greeting he got, being in the same vicinity was just making him angry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spock knew that - he was sure. In such close proximity, he was starting to feel their connection again. Subconsciously, he took a step backwards. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t be hostile, so he kept his mouth shut as he started to putter around sickbay, picking up instruments and putting them away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How long has it been, Doctor?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leonard whirled around now to face Spock with white-knuckled fists. “Two years, nine months, eleven days.” That was how long it had been since Spock had left their house - in the middle of the night like a coward, with no calls or messages, and no warning - to never return. “You come here just to remind me of that? Or were you making sure I was paying attention?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was a simple human figure of speech. I was making small-talk-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Small-talk?” Leonard threw his hands up and rolled his eyes so hard he was sure he’d fall over. “Lord, help us. He’s practicing small-talk. By all means, Spock, keep going. Want to talk about the weather? What about the odds of surviving all this? No, I suppose you have a mathematically correct answer in that Vulcan head of yours, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps we could try to be civilized-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Civilized? My God, the man is talking about having a civilized conversation when we’re stuck in some death cloud and he’s been blown in from God-knows where!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spock stopped protesting then, seeing his comments would only be met with louder and louder dissension. He folded his hands respectfully behind his back and sighed. “I assumed you would be angry with me, Doctor-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re goddamned-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spock held up a hand. “Please. I assumed you would be angry with me, but I do believe it is in the best interest of the crew and this mission that we continue to cooperate professionally.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This damn mission wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t waltzed back onto the Enterprise and batted your eyes at Jim Kirk!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I believe this to be of such urgency that the Admiral would have gone on with the mission even in my absence-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t get it, do you?” Leonard was seething now. His hand had found the edge of the biobed, which he was gripping so hard it seemed it would snap. “This mission isn’t about that thing about there. It’s about the crew. It’s about the adventure. The ship. Jim wants everything back the way it was, and now that he has you, he thinks we’re all going to live happily ever after, but it doesn’t work like that.” There was no stopping him now. He marched through the broken door and across sickbay until he was nearly nose to nose with Spock. Everything about him was familiar - his smell, his mannerisms, the lines on his face - and the doctor cursed himself for allowing himself to get so close. “You think you can disappear for years and walk back into our lives like it never happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spock said nothing. Except for the small rise and fall of his chest, and the flood of negative emotion that bounced between them, he would have appeared a statue, posed in sickbay only to torture Dr. McCoy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leonard huffed. “Get out.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spock raised both of his eyebrows in moderate surprise, but nodded wisely as if his point had just been made. He turned swiftly and left. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leonard stared after him. His heart was beating so hard he could hear it in his ears. He would have stared at that door, the image of Spock’s back imprinted on the stark white of the ship’s walls, forever if he hadn’t been gently pulled from his misery by a pair of hands on his shoulders. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright, Len,” Christine said gently. “You’re right. Mr. Spock has hurt all of us, but try not to think of him too harshly.” She rubbed her hands up and down his back a moment then turned to go to her office. “I don’t think he understands what he did.” </span>
</p>
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